Soldiers in Burkina Faso drove away thousands of protesters on Sunday as opposition emerged to the military regime that took power two days earlier, when the president of nearly three decades resigned and fled.

The crowd had gathered in the capital city of Ouagadougou demanding the departure of Lt. Col. Isaac Zida the morning after the army named him head of state. Soldiers arrived in armored vehicles, firing in the air and clearing the city center, according to local private radio station Omega FM.